Follow the Fader

John Legend & The Roots f. Common and Melanie Fiona, "Wake Up Everybody" MP3

John Legend may not exactly be Teddy Pendergrass but his raspy voice makes for great vocals on this cover. Both JL and Melanie Fiona stick to Teddy Pendergrass' quiet and and soulful calm on the melody. As always, The Roots provide the perfect background music. It's pretty sick how good these guys are at bring soul and funk to anything they do. Of course this original was a product of Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International label—something we're sure the Philly natives know tons about. Overall what we love is how mellow they remake a protest song, while still delivering the original recording's rational call to action. Teddy along with Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes never gets crazy and radical until the very end when he starts yelling for everyone to "WAKE UP." John and Melanie follow the same route which makes for a superb cover of the dearly departed crooner.